Ducks season in review: Has the title window closed for good?

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Ducks coach Randy Carlyle, center, shows his frustration during the third period of Game 4 of the team’s first-round playoff series against the Sharks on Wednesday night in San Jose. The Sharks exposed the Ducks’ need for speed during a four-game sweep. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

More Stanley Cup pretender than contender during a challenging season, the Ducks were exposed as such in a four-game sweep by San Jose that sent a signal that their championship window slammed shut.

By the end, their leaders didn’t lead and the supporting cast wasn’t nearly strong enough to pick up the load. Within the quiet of the visitors’ dressing room at SAP Center, the Ducks couldn’t deny the hard truth – that they weren’t good enough.

Are they still? That is the salient point going forward.

“We have to look at things throughout the summer here and get prepared mentally and physically for the following season because obviously this year wasn’t good enough,” Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf said.

Here is a look at the Ducks’ season:

WHAT WENT WRONG?

This was not a potent offense to begin with – their 2.82 goals-per-game average ranked 19th in the NHL. But it was completely impotent against the Sharks. The four goals the Ducks scored in four playoff games only matched San Jose’s fourth line – low-scoring winger Marcus Sorensen had three on his own.

Getzlaf had a horrific series but several others weren’t much better. Corey Perry was never a factor until Game 4. The third line of Adam Henrique, Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase contributed no offense whatsoever. Derek Grant was a nice surprise, but the fourth line was ever changing and never that effective.

And the reliable shutdown line wasn’t as effective or dominant as it had once been as the key to it, Ryan Kesler, was far from his top two-way form after coming back from major hip surgery.

Andrew Cogliano’s 830-game consecutive streak – the fourth-longest streak in NHL history – ended with a two-game suspension levied by the league’s director of player safety, George Parros (a former Ducks enforcer) for making head contact with a hit on the Kings’ Adrian Kempe.

One reason the Ducks rarely enjoyed any easy games was a 23rd-ranked power play that continues to be a major disappointment. Changes on the coaching staff didn’t produce results in that area and the players on those units were often too sloppy with their zone entries and puck movement.

But their lack of speed throughout the roster – which often put them at a disadvantage against skilled, skating-based teams – was fully exposed by San Jose. The Sharks were content to absorb hits to make plays and beat them to spots on the ice, jumping on mistakes and converting their chances.

WHAT WENT RIGHT?

The addition of Henrique in the trade with New Jersey for Vatanen filled a desperately needed hole and the veteran was rejuvenated, scoring 20 goals and 16 points in 57 games with them. His presence helped Ondrej Kase break out with a 20-goal season.

Ryan Miller went some stretches without playing but showed that he still has some game by delivering several fine performances whether as a starter or coming in cold to close out games when Gibson was forced to leave because of injuries.

Brandon Montour played his best hockey of the season when paired with Fowler and seems ready to give the Ducks a top-four on defense to rely upon. Josh Manson is a full-fledged shutdown defenseman who’s well-rounded because of his underrated offensive game.

Rickard Rakell is the Ducks’ most skilled player and best goal scorer. He has thrived on left wing and started to add more versatility to his game. Getzlaf came back from his fractured cheekbone and produced at more than a point-per-game clip.

HIGHLIGHTS

• In November, the Ducks’ two greatest stars – Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya – were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame together. Selanne was a first-ballot lock, but Kariya finally got in on the fifth try. The winger has always valued his privacy, but it was a joy to see him back on the hockey scene, if only briefly.

• Overtime scores by Rakell and Kase in consecutive games to beat the Kings and Colorado put them in position to clinch a playoff spot, which they did in the following game by beating Minnesota and former coach Bruce Boudreau.

• Even when it was a struggle getting victories, the Ducks managed to gain points. They had only one stretch of losing three straight games in regulation and pushed 22 contests into overtime. And they eventually won a few of those.

LOWLIGHTS

• Already starting the season with Kesler, Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen on the mend for surgeries, Patrick Eaves was dealt a blow when he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a muscle disorder. Eaves, whose 32 goals last season earned him a three-year contract extension, missed all but two games.

• The injury bug was never ending. No player appeared in all 82 games. Getzlaf appeared in only 56 and Kesler played just 44. Kase missed 16 games and Corey Perry didn’t play in 11. Cam Fowler missed a month because of a knee sprain. His shoulder injury in April, which kept him out against San Jose, was especially damaging.

• No moment will sit worse than the 8-1 Game 3 shellacking dealt by the Sharks. Arguably the worst loss in franchise history – playoff or regular season – it was marked by an embarrassing third period when an argumentative Getzlaf was given an early exit along with needless frustration penalties taken by Perry and Kesler.

THREE STARS

John Gibson: The Ducks don’t make the playoffs without his efforts. While there were times he had to leave games due to injury, Gibson was healthy enough to play a personal-best 60 games and won a career-high 31. His .926 save percentage was outstanding and often bailed out a mistake-filled team.

Hampus Lindholm: The defensive shutdown ace wasn’t without his own tough games, but he averaged a career-high 22 minutes, 44 seconds of ice time and drew the toughest assignments for a team that allowed the third-fewest goals in 2017-18. He had two overtime-winning goals among his career-best 13.

Josh Manson: With apologies to Rakell becoming a 30-goal scorer in back-to-back years, Manson established himself as a top-pairing defender alongside Lindholm. He led the blue line with 37 points, which more than doubled his previous high, and he topped the team with a plus-34 rating.

COACHING

Randy Carlyle got the Ducks into the playoffs for the second time in as many years in his second stint as coach, but he also has to take some of the blame for the team being swept out of a postseason series for the first time in 19 years and falling well short of its expectations.

While he deserves credit for keeping the Ducks afloat early when they were besieged with injuries, his best players often didn’t play like they’re capable of once the group became largely healthy after Christmas. A lackluster Game 1 and a dreadful Game 3 blowout in the playoff loss to the Sharks is a black mark.

The fact that the Ducks never overcame their lack of sharpness, penchant for sloppy mistakes and deteriorating work in the details of the game is another stain.

FRONT OFFICE

Bob Murray badly wants to win and his season-saving trade for Henrique showed that he wasn’t going to just fold the tent at midseason and look toward 2018-19. But his deadline moves to acquire aging veterans Jason Chimera and Chris Kelly were curious at best. Neither player made an impact.

The fact that he didn’t make a real splash and give up a first-round pick or other future assets was a strong hint that their underlying play beneath the wins they grabbed in the second half didn’t make him very confident about this team having the goods to make a lengthy playoff run.

WHAT’S NEXT?

A hard assessment needs to be made and all aspects of the organization should at least be put under a microscope. They’ve got to clear out any under-performing veterans that they can move and inject more speed and youthful legs into the lineup.

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Most likely that will come from developing prospects within their system. But can you trust Carlyle to veer more away from the power-based heavy game that’s showing to be anachronistic to an NHL that gets faster with each season?

Can Murray shift the Ducks into a more skilled unit while working around the giant contracts that Getzlaf, Perry and Kesler have to eat up a large portion of the salary cap? It is a certainty that Perry and the $24 million he is still owed won’t be bought out, so how can they coax one more productive season from a winger whose production has declined sharply for two seasons.

There is still solid organizational depth on defense to form a third pairing but the skilled young forwards in the system are not NHL-ready. This could be a make-or-break summer for Ritchie, a power forward who regressed when he was expected to take more steps forward.

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